Book Review: Too Close to Home by Aoife Walsh

Honestly I wasn't sure if I was going to finish this book at all. It was so slow going and the super long chapters didn't help either, chapter one alone was 40 pages.

The blurb made a big thing about Minny's autistic sister Aisling being bullied but that was actually only a minor plot point. I do feel like her autism was done fairly well though. At least Ash wasn't a stereotype, she was shown to have feelings and emotions which appears to be a rarity for autistic girls in fiction.

The plot was nothing - their lives - and everything - reemergence of their absent dad with his pregnant girlfriend in tow - at the same time. I didn't really understand Minny and Penny's friendship (other than their names being similar, side note small LGBT representation in Penny having two mums), Selena's obsession with religion and the preoccupation with referring to Raymond as just 'the baby'. Also using Nita's name rather than 'mum' was slightly confusing in places. I liked Franklin though.

2/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Book Review: Nothing Tastes as Good by Claire Hennessy

So this book did not start off in the best light. The author - from the perspective of dead anorexic teenager Annabel - writes in a very fatphobic way and I almost gave up on it but there was something about Annabel's voice that drew me, she's stubborn, snarky and reluctant. About what?

Annabel has been assigned the job of being a spirit guide for overworked, stressed, overweight Julie a former classmate before Annabel's illness forced her to leave school. At first Annabel thinks that Julie's weight is her only problem and that if she loses weight she'll only be happy, like she herself was, or thought she was. It soon becomes clear that Julie's weight isn't the problem but a symptom of a larger problem in her life.

This book ends up being a really interesting look at the psychology behind eating disorders and the effect it can have on friends and family and how they can support the sick individual. It's also not a how-to book by any stretch and there's no mention of numbers at all. Julie, with the help of her friends (it's implied her parents don't notice or she doesn't tell them), manages to pull herself out before things get too serious and actually has a happy ending. As for Annabel I think she manages to resolve some of her lasting issues as well.

2/5 stars.

Stef Out x

(Not so) Small Update-y Post

So just a little post between reviews to so a mini update. Work has been busy, I've been doing overtime almost every week, things have been starting to change staff-wise and routine-wise and not necessarily for the better. It sounds like things might get worse before they get better as well. I'd like to do something else but I haven't a clue what. I'm hoping to learn to drive over the summer so maybe that'll open things up a little bit more.

Things with the dog are busy as well, we ended up ordering him a crate this payday because he keeps eating the furniture while we're out, especially in the day, so it's now trying to get him used to that. I bought a new training book online last payday so we'll have to see how that goes, I just need to finish reading it first.

Photo of Forest to break things up :D

Onto the blog itself. As you may have noticed there's been a bit of a name change. With all the recent gun violence in the US 'bulletproof' felt a bit insensitive even if I did originally get it from a My Chemical Romance song. I did ask Twitter but no-one responded but it didn't matter because the new name came to me just as I was trying to go to sleep. Things are looking a bit bland at the moment because I need to make a new banner, I'm hoping to draw a little owl graphic for it when I get a chance. I haven't drawn anything since before Christmas so my drawing hand is a little rusty.

Now as for blog content as you may or may not have noticed that I've kind of abandoned my 'Song of the Week' feature. I must admit I didn't really think it through and I kind of ran out of ideas so I am going to drop it in that format. BUT I will still be doing a music feature, just not for a little while yet. I suddenly remembered the 100 Day Song Challenge, it was originally conceived on Facebook and apparently moved to it's own website here at some stage where it's up to 381 days. What I plan to do is write it out in a notebook and plot out what songs I'm going to do as far in advance as I can and then I will create the posts and then schedule them, probably for a Friday because I work all day Friday and don't go on the computer so nothing else will get in their way.

So that is my plan because I still want music to have some kind of feature on here. I will hopefully create a few wishlist posts here and there as well, not necessarily on a Wednesday though which seems to have become the norm.

Stef Out x

Book Review: Under My Skin by Juno Dawson

My 100th post! Yay!

I was torn whether to add a cover image for this book because while the cover itself is well-designed and fits the tattoo them it also shows the authors name incorrectly. For those not in the know Juno Dawson was previously known as James Dawson and is a transgender woman. I guess publishers haven't re-released her old novels under her new name which is a shame, it may be that sadly they aren't popular enough to warrant the cost of doing so. This is only the second book I have read of hers and I love the twists in her writing.

Review time! This really did not go where I expected! Such a cool, unique idea and I seriously commend Juno for coming up with it. I liked Sally as a character and her transformation was great, I liked the improvement in her self-confidence and I really appreciate that she didn't ditch her old friends. Sally's best move under Molly-Sue's influence was getting rid of Jennie's boyfriend Kyle.

While the plot was utterly unique the setting and the rest of the characters were a little cliche. The school was so American-ised that I forgot about the book being British until the odd mentions of pounds. The mean girls were the same as any other media's mean girls. The male best friend falling in love with her was typical, though that had a better ending than most. I loved the idea of 'Satanville' and wish it was real. The ending was really fascinating and I wanted to know what happened next.

3/5 stars.

Stef Out x

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Book Review: Sunflowers in February by Phyllida Shrimpton

Funny story about the reading of this book. When I signed up to NetGalley it was in the first batch I requested. I got rejected and forgot about it until I was at the library the other week. I hadn't been planning to go at all but I had a return label to print and no ink at home so library it was (that was all a hassle in itself since they've changed the system and the computer wouldn't do what I wanted it to do but I got there in the end). Anyway after I'd done my printing I decided while I was there I'd take out a few books, one of the ones I picked up was 'Sunflowers in February' and I sort of recognised the title and the blurb sounded interesting. I took it over to check out and the machine told me I couldn't since it had a hold on it so I took it to the desk and was told it shouldn't even have been on the shelf but did I want to request it myself? Normally I would say no because there's a charge but double-checking the printing prices there was a note saying requests are free til June or July on a trial basis so I said yes. I wasn't expecting it for a couple of weeks but it was actually only a few days so popped round among other errands last Wednesday and I read it in a few days.

On to the review! I liked the idea of this book and the story drew me in but there was something missing. I think a lot of it was Lily herself, she didn't seem to have much personality beyond make-up, giggling, her boyfriend of 7 weeks (and one day *rolls eyes*) Nathan, and clothes. There is also mention of wanting to travel the world but no other ambitions. Later there is a brief mention of playing flute but only when relevant as a 'deus ex machina'.

The body snatch aspect was interesting but the whole thing seemed too focused on gender binary like boys are sports and mess and sex and no emotions and girls are giggling and hugs and pretty decor. There was too much much of Ben's friends giving him side-eye when Lily's 'girly' behaviours took over. Things like that brought the book down slightly.

Also Lily's obsession with Nathan was a bit too much, I kept expecting her to make Ben kiss him thus complicating things further. I do think the book was a real and genuine look at grief and how it affects families. I liked the idea of the after bucket list and the fact that Ben continued it was sweet.

Small note: I really did not like the 'ONe Shoe Sue' nickname, it seemed demeaning to me.

3/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Book Review: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

A bit of a mixed bag this one. I liked reading it and I thought the characters were interesting but some elements felt a little bit out of place.

Firstly Lennie's name actually being Lennon after John Lennon but it's not mentioned if Bailey is named after anyone. Speaking of names a point is made of saying their school has loads of kids with weird names such as a girl named Electricity (Triss for short?) and a guy named tulip but then Lennie's best friend is lumbered with a name like Sarah, who speaking of didn't have much personality beyond 'cool bitch' and about 20 different identities run together - that was rather jarring to read. As were words like Joeliciousness or whatever it was. Plus the constant 'Bat. Bat. Bat' was getting on my nerves.

Also Toby, what the hell was going on there?? Your girlfriend has just died and you're there kissing her sister, you ass! It was wrong for Lennie to play along but in her grief over her sisters death she was marginally less responsible. I loved Gram, Big was weird, Joe was sweet although their relationship seemed a little fast.

Lennie's missing mum was a subject that kept getting picked up and dropped and didn't really go anywhere. I quite liked the poems and their notes about where they were dropped but their inclusion in the story felt like an afterthought and those scenes felt a bit rushed.

3/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Book Review: It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne

This is another one of those books that I feel should be on every teenage girls must read list. It is breathtakingly refreshing in it's honesty and real-ness. It has no filters and talks bluntly about sex and periods and the ins and outs of relationships.

Audrey, our main character (who has very long hair don't you know - that is literally the only detail we're given about her appearance) is a cynic about romance thanks to the humiliating end of her last relationship (spoiler alert: he's a dickhead) and the breakdown of her parents marriage (spoiler alert 2: Dad is also a dickhead) and has decided that - rightly so in my opinion - romance films are inaccurate, misleading and potentially dangerous.

She decides to get a job in local posh cinema Flicker to get out of the house and away from her morose, alcoholic mother and the people that knew her before Milo (aforementioned dickhead ex). There she meets valuable comrades in Harry and LouLou, as well as workaholic boss Ma (thankfully she gets a promotion and we see her less as time goes on).

Several people have warned Audrey about Harry and his womanising ways but she finds herself drawn to him while he wants her to believe in romance again. I loved the way their relationship developed and how they helped each other. I also loved that it wasn't perfect between them. The ending though? That was perfect, in real life there aren't good are bad endings because things don't really end and this book captured that beautifully.

5/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Book Review: Suicide Club by Rachel Heng

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. On one hand it drew me in and carried me along but on the other hand it didn't go very far.

Set in the future where people are regularly living well over 100 years and are on the cusp of immortality. Death is a long and drawn out process thanks to mechanical hearts and other technology so some people are turning to the mysterious Suicide Club.

We follow two leads, Lea and Anja. Anja helps run the club, Lea seems to have a past and a life that was always going to lead her there, or so it appeared to me. Lea had some small fascinations in her love of vintage music and her troubled past but overall neither had very distinct personalities and there was very little character arc. The ending also seemed a little flat and incomplete, however I admired the world-building and writing style overall.

3/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Book Review: Emajen by Ashley Ledigo

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

I liked the ideas around Emajen and I think it had great potential to be something great however it all just fell a little flat. I feel like overall the book needed at least one more draft and round of editing. The chapters were awkward appearing in the middle of scenes, pacing was clunky, world-building was half-baked, for example why did diamonds cause copper scales? Also why did animals need different names? I'm disappointed we never got a true description of the Natorqua, what we got made them sound like horses with fangs that can purr. What else was cat-like?

I liked the characters but they seemed a little flat and Destiny and Anthony's backstory was a bit hasty and mostly pointless. Once it got going the story's middle progressed fairly well considering how tricky middles are but then the ending was very rushed until it just stopped.

Did the kids ever hear Saddler's story? We the reader certainly didn't. It's implied that his memory is wiped but then suddenly it's not and he's in the middle of everything. Also what happened after Destiny and Anthony got home? Did they ever go back? A few too many plot holes and poorly explained plot devices, the stone that Anthony used comes to mine, it was just there and automatically the solution to everything.

2/5 stars.

Stef Out x